When the Smoke Clears
by Casey Wolfe
Summary: When the battle for Hoover Dam is over, what is left for the Courier and her companions? [Boone/F!Courier]


The Courier gazed at the Hoover Dam, sighing heavily with both relief and exhaustion. Beside her, Boone's lips twisted into a rare smile. Behind them were a rowdy cowgirl, a Brotherhood scribe, a barking robo-dog, and a beeping eyebot. Bringing up the rear, were the NCR Rangers, 1st Recon snipers, and Troopers who had made it through the battle for this place.

As they arrived back at the dam, the returning victors were greeted by a Followers scientist, a Ghoul mechanic, and a split-personality Nightkin. "Everyone made it back in one piece I see," Raul chuckled.

"We should get you all to medical all the same," Arcade quickly added, ushering them into the dam. "The doctors and I started up a triage area for the wounded, but we saved a room for you so we could all have some more privacy."

"Grandma's glad to see you're alright sweetie," Lily mentioned.

The Courier just smiled at the Nightkin, by now used to her unusual mannerisms.

When they got into the med-bay, Cass plopped onto one of the beds. "Whew, that was one hell of a fight. I wasn't sure we were gonna make it back there a few times." She groaned. "I need a drink."

As though on cue, ED-E hovered over and beeped in a playful way. Cass grinned and opened his compartment where there were a few bottles of whiskey for her. "You're amazing E.D." She lay back on the bed, enjoying her drink. She didn't even complain when one of the medics started to poke and prod at her cuts and scrapes.

Veronica had a frown across her pretty face as another doctor applied disinfectant to a deep slice on her forearm where a Legion blade had caught her. "They don't mess around when you get in close," she admitted. Besides some wincing, she never complained while being stitched up.

Raul talked to Rex as he oiled some of his joints and checked on all his machine parts. He wasn't a vet, but he knew how to handle a bot. ED-E hovered nearby, awaiting his turn to be patched up by the reliable mechanic.

Lily had gone back outside the door to make sure no one came in to bother the group while they were being patched up. The Courier was thankful for that, as she really didn't want to deal with NCR brass at the moment. She had let her eyes wander over her companions one by one to make sure they were stable. Then her eyes fell to Boone.

The ex-NCR sniper had his shirt off, and Arcade hovered over the medic tending to his bullet wound. Boone barely made a face as the lead was extracted from his shoulder. She had to admit, he was a tough one. Any other person with a shoulder injury wouldn't have been able to continue firing a rifle, but Boone sure had. She doubted they could have won without his overwatch support.

The Courier walked in front of Boone looking down at him. The doctor had started to mend the back of his shoulder. "It was a good place to be shot at least," Arcade mentioned. "No vital organs or veins. Just a lot of muscle tissue."

"Doesn't make it feel any better," Boone replied dryly.

The Courier smirked, placing a hand on his as she knelt down to be eye level with him. "How you holding up?"

Boone removed his sunglasses, meeting her eyes. He was quiet a moment, and then smiled softly. "I'll live. Takes more than a few dozen Legion bastards to put me down."

Smiling back, she nodded. "It was hardly fair to them. They dropped like flies."

"Have you gotten checked out yet?" one of the medics asked, interrupting the pair.

The Courier looked at him and shook her head. "I'm fine. No injuries."

"Alright then, the rest of us will head over to the triage area. We'll send someone by to check on you all in a while." He told the doctor working on Boone to get to triage as quick as possible before they headed out.

"How many wounded are there?" the Courier inquired. She coughed a little- a side effect of inhaling so much gunpowder.

"Hard to say," the doctor replied, finishing off Boone's dressing. "They just kept coming. We've had everything from minor injuries to full-blown traumas. The death toll has not been that high- thankfully- but any death has hit us all hard."

The Courier nodded sympathetically. Soldiers were trained for combat, sure. They had, at some time or another, admitted to themselves about the realities of their own mortality. They all knew they could die at any time. But that never made it seem any better.

"Well, I better hurry back there," the medic continued, quickly packing up her bag. "Every hand is needed now."

Arcade turned to her. "I don't have a lot of experience in trauma medicine, but I would be happy to help in any small way."

"Like I said, we can use the help. Shall we?"

The Courier moved to sit on the bed beside Boone, but as she stood she suddenly felt dizzy. Swaying as the world spun, she lost her balance. "Flame!" Boone snatched her quickly before she fell, pulling her against him.

Arcade and the doctor spun around immediately. "What's wrong?" the Follower demanded.

"I... dunno." Flame pulled back from Boone a little. "Just lost my bearings there for a moment."

"Are you sure you're not hurt?" Boone asked, brows knitted together. His eyes pierced into her with great intensity, and she noticed the concern behind his gruff tone.

"I'm sure, Boone. There's not a scratch on me." He nodded hesitantly, guiding her gently onto the bed.

"Probably fatigue," the doctor said. "You've all been up for days and coming down from the adrenaline is bound to take its toll. Just lie down and get some rest."

Flame nodded, watching the pair leave. "Don't scare us like that Boss," Raul mentioned. Rex whined in agreement.

"Sleep sounds like the right idea to me," Cass admitted with a yawn.

Everyone seemed to agree and decided to get some shut eye. Even Raul decided it was best to save tinkering with ED-E when his eyes weren't so heavy.

"E.D?" Veronica called the eyebot. He beeped in response, floating over by her. The Brotherhood of Steel scribe was much more comfortable with the little guy near her. Likewise, Rex wandered over and lay at the foot of the bed where his mistress was seated with Boone.

"Come on," Boone urged, "you should get some sleep."

"You too," Flame replied stubbornly.

He smirked. "Alright." Wrapping an arm around her waist, he gently pulled her down on the bed. He flushed his body against hers, snuggling his head into her neck. "Get some rest Flame. All of the new problems can wait."

She turned her head enough to manage to place a kiss on his cheek. Then she sighed happily, content at falling asleep, wrapped in Boone's protective embrace.

* * *

><p><em>She had woken in Goodsprings not remembering her past. She could recall her name, but otherwise it was just blank. Somewhere in her subconscious she could remember whatever training she had had before she was shot. Flame had a natural ability with guns, including energy weapons. She also knew how to maintenance them properly. She had some basic survival skills and knew her way around combat. With a silver tongue she could charm anyone it seemed, but never using it for manipulation. Flame even seemed to have some decent understanding of computers and tech. <em>

_Where she had learned all this, where she had come from, everything... that was all up for a guess. The only sure thing was that she had worked as a Courier, and someone had tried to kill her for the package she carried and left her for dead. Armed with that information, some gear given to her by helpful Goodsprings citizens, and a Pip Boy, she headed off into the Mojave trailing her only lead. She was off to find the son-of-a-bitch that stole her memories and tried to claim her life._

_She had arrived in Novac with a little buzzing Eyebot behind her. That was the first time Boone saw her, chatting with Manny when he came up to the Dino's mouth to switch shifts. How was he to know what adventures lay ahead of him, all because of one Courier?_

* * *

><p>The Courier awoke and yawned. "What time is it?" she mumbled, tapping her Pip Boy screen. It was dawn. "So much for sleep..." She rolled out of bed- literally- and was gazing at the ceiling. "Ow," she spoke dryly after hitting the hard concrete.<p>

Boone had stirred and leaned over the edge of the bed, looking down at her. "You're down there... why?" he inquired with a raised brow.

"My legs didn't want to move when my brain told them to."

"Ah, I see..." He reached out a hand and helped her stand. "Well, since we're up, what do you say to breakfast?"

Flame made an "mmm" sound, licking her lips. They hadn't eaten in a few days, since beginning the unexpected counter-attack on the Legion. Even being caught by surprise, her team never faltered, nor did the Rangers or 1st Recon that backed them up without prompting.

The two headed for the mess hall- trailed by a certain robotic dog- which was unusually quiet for this time of day. Normally everyone would be up and bustling at the crack of daylight so they could eat and begin the day's tasks. But with the two day battle for the dam, everyone who wasn't in the triage area was resting, save for a few.

A group of veteran Rangers sat at one of the tables. Flame recognized the group as the Desert Rangers that aided them storming the gates of the Legate's camp. She held up her hand in greeting, receiving a few tired, but pleased, grins and waves in return.

They ate in relative silence, which wasn't unusual as Boone was always the quiet brooding type. But today they were simply lost to their thoughts. A battle of that magnitude did not come about that often. The things they saw, what they did, the sheer length of continuous fighting... It was all a lot to take in once the bullets had stopped flying.

When they had finished their meal, Flame took Boone's hand. He didn't baulk or question where they were headed, just followed as usual. He had learned to trust her, and believed she had a good head on her shoulders- even if her brains had been scrambled a bit in Goodsprings.

They went outside of the dam from the visitor's center, on the balcony that overlooked everything. It was the same place she and Boone had been when they saved President Kimball from Legion assassins. Now they stood, watching the dying smoke and embers of battle as the sun was rising over the Mojave.

"Looks like it's a new day after all." She sighed, closing her eyes and smiling softly. "For a while I wasn't sure if we'd see the next sunrise."

As she leaned against the railing, Boone scooted in beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist. "You and me both. But we did it." He squeezed her hip pointedly. "Sure, the NCR will be fighting holdouts for a bit, but with both Ceaser and the Legate dead, it won't take long for everything to fall apart."

"So what is it you plan to do now?" she asked, with a bittersweet look as she gazed at the sunrise.

He shrugged. "Hadn't really thought about it much. I'm sure I could go back to the NCR, to 1st Recon." She nodded a bit, unable to hide that forlorn look. "Or, I could always just follow you around. After all, someone has to watch your six as much trouble as you find yourself in."

She let out a quick laugh. "I think it's more_ us _finding trouble."

"Well," he nudged her shoulder, "since you asked... What do _you_ plan on doing?"

She sighed, leaning with her forearms on the rail. "Dunno. I mean there's so many places to go, things I could do... I'm not sure where I should go from here." They remained quiet for a time. Then the Courier couldn't help but vent her frustrations.

"I've already spoken with the others some time ago about what they'd wanted to do. Lily wants to go back to Jacobstown to help with the Nightkin studies more. Veronica wants to return to the Brotherhood to help them rebuild. Raul figures he'll go to New Vegas for a while before finding some place to set up shop in a place like Primm or Novac. Gannon's going back to his work with the Followers. Cass is talking about cutting a deal with the Gun Runners and beginning a caravan again. Rex, well, I'm sure the King misses him." She patted the dog's head fondly. "ED-E... Well, the little guy probably would like to go with Veronica is he could. Though I'd know he'd stick around if I wanted him to."

She turned, leaning her back against the rail. "That leaves me and you. I figured you'd want to go back to NCR after all this. If that's what you want..." Flame drifted off, looking at her feet.

"What about what you want?"

She shrugged. "I'm sure I could join NCR in a heartbeat. Hell, I'm sure I could even get in the Rangers or 1st Recon if I asked. Then there's always the Brotherhood."

Boone nodded. After he helped Veronica and her "family" out with their internal troubles, they had actually agreed to aid the NCR with holding back the Legion if they were strike at Hoover Dam. She had used her skill with words to convince the new Elder that the Legion was bad for everyone in the Mojave- and that included the Brotherhood. She had shown them that it was a time for putting the past behind them and working together towards a new goal for the future. Her service to them had earned her honorary Knighthood.

"On the other hand, since we took House out of the picture, NCR gave me ownership over Lucky 38. I had thoughts of moving in there, getting it fixed up. Maybe it could be a bright spot in Vegas again. I could help the Followers deal with Freeside and help out the other settlements around the Strip..." She threw her hands in the air. "Or hell, there's always the option of wandering the desert aimlessly."

"I think as long as you're doing something that helps people, you'll be happy." Boone laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Besides, no one said you had to decide anything right now."

She laid her hand on his. "As long as I'm with you I'll be happy," was her quiet reply.

"Me too." He placed a kiss on her forehead. "Whatever you decide, I'm right beside you."

The Courier gazed into the distance. "There's so many possibilities out there in the Mojave. Where to go from here... That's anyone's guess."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This is just a one-shot, but if enough people are interested, perhaps I'll turn it into a full length story. Please review, thanks!**


End file.
